Monday, 6 June 2011

Cybersafety vs Digital Citizenship

When Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities he coined the phrase … “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way...” this seems to rather aptly describes the polarisation of views about the digitally enhanced world we find ourselves living in.

It is the very features that make the internet so effective and egalitarian that cause many people, especially parents, schools and governments, concern about cybersafety, online predators, cyberbullying and identity theft. As library professionals we reject censorship in all of its forms, including filtering, yet at the same time we accept the responsibility to help educate parents and assist them in ensuring the safety of their children, and indeed themselves, online. There are a number of excellent resources and local research that is well worth investigating.

Digital Citizenship
Cybersafety is rather like road safety, all the road rules and safety equipment are only part of the solution, we need well trained drivers who understand their responsibilities on the road. In a similar way, schools are taking positive steps and teaching students to be savvy digital citizens. One good example worth exploring comes from the Educational Origami wiki:

About Me

We are a group committed to providing professional development events for Library and Information professionals in Sydney. Our 2017 Committee members are: Lauren Castan, Roopa Shah, Eleanor Gerrard, Maria Savvidis, and Melinda Bruning. Contact us at aliasydneygroup@gmail.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter: @aliasyd.